Romanian-born German wins 2009 Nobel Prize

Herta Müller, the Romanian-born German novelist and essayist won the 2009 Nobel Prize for literature.  She grew up in communist Romania and lived part of her adult life there. I relate to that experience, I left Romania when I was 25-years old.  My circumstances were different, and my adopted country was different, but I recognize many of my experiences in her writings. Ms. Muller's modesty and down-to-earth attitude when interviewed after she learned of the award stuck with me:

"I am the person that I am, I am now nothing better and I’m nothing worse. It’s O.K., it’s nice, but it won’t change anything for me. My inner thing is writing. That I can hold on to."

This is a great!  The typical news from Romania these days are not great, usually "no news is good news".  This is truly extraordinary, and makes me very happy and proud.